What Does a Family Law Attorney Do?

By Justin DiMateo

A family law attorney can help any family with the various problems that arise throughout the lifetime of a family. Those problems can be divorce, child custody, child support, child visitation, domestic violence, marital assets, spousal support, restraining orders and much more. A family is the foundation of the United States and sometimes families just don’t get along and need to split up.

Divorce is defined as the ending of a marriage in the presence of a court to the extent that the man and woman are no longer legally bound to each other by the same last name. A divorce is not legal unless it is certified by the court and in some jurisdictions of the country, one party or the other must prove fault in the divorce case. A family law attorney can help with divorce proceedings. Going through a divorce can be physically and emotionally draining for everyone involved, including the children, if there are any.

Divorce involves more than just the division of debt and the distribution of property between the two people involved. Divorce also involves deciding on child custody, visitation rights, child support and spousal support. All of this can be done with the help of a family law attorney. Going through a divorce without the helping hand of a lawyer can be a daunting task and can be ultimately impossible to obtain success. The lawyer will be able to help his or her client in regards to what decisions need to be made.

Child custody is one of the most disheartening battles during a divorce because the husband and wife will use different methods of making the other look unfit to care for the children. Many people make up stories of physical and emotional abuse to tell the judge in a child custody battle. This is when a lawyer would be needed. A lawyer can help the person being accused of these horrible actions get through the allegations and present their case in an appropriate manner.

Child and spousal support are not one in the same. Child support is payments that must be made by one half of the couple in a divorce case to the other half of the couple. Child support is to be used for the child’s education, clothing, food, school supplies, medical bills for the child and any other necessities that the child needs to live by. Spousal support on the other hand is payments made to one spouse by the other after a divorce case has been completed. Spousal support goes towards medical bills, legal bills, food, clothing, transportation needs and much more.

If the person who is supposed to be sending the payments refuses to do so or forgets to send them they can be fined by the court or can even face time in jail. A family law attorney will be able to help the party involved in the divorce case receive their payments of spousal support or child support if they are not coming through regularly. All matters involving family law can be resolved with the help of an attorney.